Liverpool Rumours Archive September 07 2010

07 Sep 2010 23:04:22
Hello ed and my fellow liverpool fans, dark days are looming, but try to stay possitive; i am sure we all hope the board will block the next crazy re-mortgage attempt by the rotten yanks, and somehow the english legal system will send them packing with a swift boot up the arse and empty wallets! anyway here's another interesting article:

Liverpool's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks attempted to refinance their loans this summer by mortgaging the club's remaining assets - the stadium, training ground, players and guaranteed TV revenues.

There are fears the American owners might attempt another refinancing deal ahead of the October 6 deadline to repay £237 million owed to Royal Bank of Scotland, plus the £60 million of additional fees run up since April. But the rest of Liverpool's five-man board would - once again - legally block any attempt to use the players or stadium as 'assets' to raise a mortgage to pay off existing debts. Any refinancing will be opposed by the board who can outvote Hicks and Gillett 3-2, but the Americans might issue a legal challenge.

At present, the £40 million annual interest repayments come directly from club profits but ESPNsoccernet has learned that the debts are not loaded against the stadium and players. When Hicks and Gillett tried to find a new £290 million 'mortgage' using the stadium and players as assets a few months ago, the board threw out the proposal and took legal advice to ensure that they were within their rights to do so.

With the October 6 bank deadline rapidly approaching, Hicks and Gillett stand to lose their stranglehold on Liverpool if RBS chooses to take over the club and hand it over to their asset recovery experts to sell as a distressed asset. An RBS effective takeover of the club from the October 6 deadline would meet with Premier League approval. Liverpool have also informed the Premier League and UEFA that they have set aside financial measures to ensure that they can continue to pay the £8 million-a-month wage bill and fulfil their fixtures this season.

When asked if the club could still afford their substantial wage bill, a spokesman said: "Liverpool FC has prudent working capital facilities that allow the club to make proper provision for outgoings as and when they arise. These working capital facilities are totally satisfactory to both the Premier League and UEFA."

The annual wage bill in the 2008-09 accounts was £90.8 million and this year the figure will be around the same, but for the first time Liverpool have dipped into the red. When asked whether the crippling £40 million interest repayments which wipe out all operating profits are paid monthly, putting a strain on the club's cash flow, the response was that, as such detail is not a matter of public record, the club have declined to answer.

However there are fears that the club is heading for financial meltdown unless a new owner can be found, and so far there are no "credible" bidders. There has been nothing from a mystery bid involving Keith Harris, let alone the Kenny Huang bid that also failed to materialise. City experts are now estimating that Liverpool's price tag in an RBS fire sale could be as little as £150 million, far short of the original expectations of Hicks and Gillett, who demanded £800 million and then dropped their asking price to £600 million.

Talk of a takeover before the transfer window proved to be a disappointing false dawn, and City financiers believe the value of the club will now plummet. Liverpool suspect that potential new owners are waiting to grab the club for a knock-down price when RBS faces the prospect of selling the club itself from the October 6 deadline, when the bank's £237 million loan has to be repaid.
redsincebirth
Y.N.W.A

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07 Sep 2010 21:41:07
Is there any truth of Liverpool signing young French striker Yaya Sanogo from Auxerre in January? ?

07 Sep 2010 18:09:19
Sad to hear Phil Thompson is going to Aston Villa with Gerard Houllier. He is really good on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, always defending Liverpool. Unfortunately if he leaves the programme we will be forced to listen to a massive anti Liverpool bias from the other pundits (Merson, Le Tissier etc) and the presenter Jeff Stelling. Believable or unbelievable?

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07 Sep 2010 15:30:41
Blair Mayne, - mate there is s massive difference between a bank selling a home that was defaulted and a massive business like Liverpool. If H&G have the funds they will definitely be taking RBS to court and we could be looking at a long protracted legal s* tfight where lawyers will happily drain funds for as long as they can. Historically if you look at the take over of business it happens during strong bull markets where price matches exuberance or bear markets were well funded buyers can bide their time and pick off distressed companies.
The latter is the situation we are in at present.
Hopefully that is what we will see happen now with H&G realising it is better to minimise their losses and get out.

Steve

With an agreement in place Steve between RBS and G&H after the extension of the loans and it was G&H who reneged on the agreement and defaulted on the loans would it and could it still go to the courts?

Blair Mayne YNWA

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07 Sep 2010 14:50:43
Dear ed
a few days ago, maybe a week, you or ed 1.5 or ed 2 said that the takeover was close, to sit tight or soething along those lines. could you elaborate for me since today is the first day i've got the chance to see the site ince that post?
LfordRed {ed's note - there is nothing to elaborate mate, it is just a simple case of waiting for the money men to complete a deal. If it isn't completed soon, then H&G will have to take up BarCap's credit line offer or lose control of the club. I don't think they want that to happen.}

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07 Sep 2010 14:47:20
However, should RBS take over the club next month they can fully expect to face a court date with Gillett and Hicks, who will legally challenge any plans by the high street giant to sell the club for any amount lower than their own valuation of between £600million and £800million.

This bit didn't make sense to me either ED as surely when RBS granted the extension on the loans they would've had a water tight agreement with G&H so this dosn't end up in court and avoid any bad PR. And hopefully left G&H with no legs to stand on IF they keep playing hard ball.

Blair Mayne YNWA {ed's note - if you borrow money using a property as collateral and you don't keep up repayments, you lose the property you risked. It is that simple, whoever wrote that was just trying to make up a story to get extra hits on their site.}

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07 Sep 2010 14:10:44
Liverpool's board of directors will block any plans by owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to use club assets to refinance their loans.

Chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre are understood to be planning to legally oppose the Americans' bid to maintain their grip on the club by using players and guaranteed TV revenues to pay off existing debts.

Anfield and the club's Melwood training ground have also been mooted in the duo's remortgaging bid ahead of the October 6 deadline set by the Royal Bank of Scotland to repay their existing loan of £237million in addition to £60million penalty fees incurred since April.

The board rejected a proposal by Gillett and Hicks to use players and the stadium as collateral in their bid to secure a £290million investment several months ago, with a vote of 3-2.

Discussion with the Premier League have ensured that Liverpool will not face a nine-point deduction should the bank seize control, with both the League and UEFA receiving assurances from the club that they can fulfil all their fixtures for the current season.

However, should RBS take over the club next month they can fully expect to face a court date with Gillett and Hicks, who will legally challenge any plans by the high street giant to sell the club for any amount lower than their own valuation of between £600million and £800million.

I just took this of Click Liverpool.com who are pretty reliable.

What you think ED?

Blair Mayne YNWA {ed's note - I am not sure this is all that reliable, after all if the banks take possession due to non-payment of debt, then H&G would have no avenue through the courts to contest the amount the club is sold for. It would belong to RBS then and up to them how much it was sold for, usually in repossession cases the bank just looks to recoup the loan amount not the value of whatever it is they are selling. Someone I know used to make their living through buying repossessions on the cheap, fixing them up and selling them on.}

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07 Sep 2010 12:31:43
Liverpool to sign Mario Gomez in January for 20miilion he will wear the number 11 shirt

LFC 4 Life

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07 Sep 2010 11:11:57
Does anyone have any info on the party that that fella said has passed all and just need to make a bid and shhould do before october.

the face man

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07 Sep 2010 10:46:40
[not a rumour but hope it becomes fact] has any1 seen alexis sanchez play his just pure class and exactly the player we need on the rw. jo cole in the middle who also can take on players and who else but the great torres up front these 3 will cause alot of trouble for any team in the world. rh needs to sign this player quick cause manure are on his tracks.

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07 Sep 2010 10:22:54
Hi Ed. . .I'm really starting to think that we are the stupidest club when it comes to the transfer market! !. . .I just read in the LFCTV web site that ourselves Arsenal and Spurs are fighting to sign "Barcelona sensation Oriol Romeu" who is an 18 year old defensive midfielder. . He is supposed to be the next big thing to come out of the nou camp but likely to find it too hard to break into the established starting 11. . .My question is Why the hell didn't we include him in the Mascherano deal?!?!. .If we had demanded him to be included, you have to asume we would have got him for nexed to nothing considering their obssesion with Masch. .The article said that we had the young lad monitered last season so we've obviously known about him for a while, so why have we left it to get to the point where we'll have to battle it out with Wenger and Spurs when it is becoming increasingly obvious that we're finding it hard to lure players to us if they have a choice between Arsenal or Spurs?!?!?!. . I just don't get it?? . . .
. . Make me feel better please Ed.

SI

YNWA {ed's note - I think we all find some of the transfer decisions made by the club baffling, look at the Alonso to Real Madrid transfer. We could have signed some excellent, much-needed, players as part of that deal, instead we wasted the cash on an injury-prone Aquilani.}

07 Sep 2010 00:42:04
Not so much a rumour just my opinion, really think roy should
go all out for alexis sanchez he would provide us with the width n pace out right and would also be a great parter for torres in a 4-4-2, would love 2 see this guy play for us!

Also while kuyt is injured i think pacheco, amoo and especially sterling all deserve a chance 2 impress.